film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Joel Fisher

  • The Dry: Review

    The Dry: Review

    Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) is a cop returning home for the funeral of a friend who supposedly killed his wife and his son before turning the gun on himself. Aaron has a history with the town and his work in law enforcement hasn’t made him any friends. However, when Gerry (Bruce Spence) and Barb Handler (Julia Blake) tell Aaron that they don’t believe their son would have been capable of murdering anyone, he decides to investigate the case.

    During his investigation, things start to remind him of a similar case that happened during his childhood and what with his home town being as secretive now as they were back then, Aaron starts to find it hard to uncover the truth.

    The Dry is a drama directed and co-written by Robert Connelly with Harry Crips, based on the novel by Jane Harper. With its police procedural format, it’s the performances from Bana and Genevieve O’Reilly as Aaron’s childhood friend that drive the film.

    Set during a drought in Aaron’s home town, the setting is simplistic, quiet and untouched, but as Aaron digs further, he finds more than first impressions allow.

    Going back to his memories through flashbacks, The Dry shows Aaron’s younger days and the toxicity of adolescence and his regrets that things should have gone differently. However, Connelly’s retelling of Harper’s novel never sensationalises the content for thrills and spectacle, instead making the facts as plain as the landscape that surrounds the town.

    The Dry feels like a film for adults and so it never embellishes on the events, it just tells it as it is. So, for those looking for an action packed, gun totting melodrama may want to look elsewhere. However, audiences who want a contemplative story of regret and loss that never treats them like attention deficient children, then The Dry may be a good antidote to cinematic mayhem.

    Bana is also similarly stoic and contemplative, putting in a great performance and never heightening the drama above where it needs to be. The story may be somewhat formulaic and the ending tied up rather neatly, but it’s an enjoyable film for those bored with overblown visual effects and needless violence.

  • Skull: The Mask – Review

    Skull: The Mask – Review

    An ancient ritual has been passed down through generations in which a sacred skull is said to possess the devil himself. A product of black magic, the skull can be worn as a mask and the owner of the mask is said to unleash a killing spree into the world once it has awoken.

    Detective Beatriz Obdias (Natallia Rodrigues) is a cop with a troubled past where she was the first to arrive at the scene of a grisly murder. Then one day she’s called to the scene of a double homicide which is said to have occurred after a black magic ritual had taken place in the house.

    The bodies had been found with their hearts ripped out of their chests and the skull artefact has gone missing. Fearing the worst and that there may be more murders of this type, detective Obdias starts to research the mask and its shady past. However, she’s met with opposition as a rich businessman named Tack Waelder (Ivo Müller) wants to retrieve the skull for himself.

    Skull: The Mask is a visceral Brazilian horror movie exclusive to Shudder. Steeped in a rich, mystical lore it seems that the skull is the perfect McGuffin to lead a new series of horror movies. The simple premise and quick set up give its audience an old school horror feel while simultaneously being a particularly Brazilian tale.

    Horror movies from the 80’s such as Candyman and A Nightmare on Elm Street gave a new and yet familiar twist on the typical slasher movie, however Skull: The Mask’s unique take on the genre may gives its audience a reason to want more.

    Alongside a simple idea are the scenes of horror which also harken back to a simpler time of practical and elaborate special effects. Every kill is tailormade for an audience who love the blood and gore of a violent and needlessly bloody kill.

    The skull itself is also a rather dramatic look which has the potential to become an iconic look all in itself. However, although the detective subplot may not interest audiences as much, they should know that whatever setting it’s in, Skull: The Mask is satisfying enough to want a sequel or maybe even a franchise.

  • The 100 Candles Game: Review

    The 100 Candles Game: Review

    The 100 Candles Game: Review – A group of friends come to an old house to play a game. They light one hundred candles and put them in a circle and step inside. From that moment onwards they must tell a horror story for each of the candles so that they can all go out.

    During their time in the house, they tell their tales, however as they explore the house further, they find that the house is holding even more sinister secrets than they could have possibly imagined.

    The 100 Candles Game is a horror anthology movie within the framing of a premise for a horror movie all of its own. The problem is that although the premise for the movie does set the scene quite suitably, most of the horror stories that they tell feel unfinished and like they should be part of separate horror movies by themselves.

    The first tale is rather short but witty, however by the time of the exorcism story it feels like the production value has increased greatly. Although even in that tale the story does feel rather predictable, even if the audience may want more.

    Another problem is that all of the stories as well as feeling unfinished also aren’t all that original. This mean they may be riffing off of other horror movies as a loving homage, but ultimately most of the stories come across as lazy and a little originality in the stories and the monsters may have done it some good.

    The cast are all well suited, from the group of young people forced to tell these stories in supernatural circumstances to the many different cast members within these stories. However, aside from the exorcism story that manages to have a beginning, a middle and the end, the rest all feel like they’re examples of a director’s work to show they can create an atmosphere.

    A bit of variety would have been good and although most of the stories stem from urban legends and folklore, it’s nothing the audience wouldn’t have seen before. 100 Candles will probably spawn some good stories if fleshed out further, but as it is now the audience may have preferred something more unique.

  • Host: Review

    Host: Review

    Haley (Haley Bishop) has brought together her friends; Radina (Radina Drandova), Jemma (Jemma Moore), Emma (Emma Louise Webb), Caroline (Caroline Ward) and Jinny (Jinny Lofthouse) over a Zoom call for something unique. She wants to conduct a séance with the help of a spiritual medium named Seylan (Seylan Baxter).

    The women are all excited, but slightly anxious because they’ve never done anything like that before, let alone over Zoom. However, what with the current state of the world where they can’t all be in the same place at the same time, this can be a shared experience they can remember until they can make better memories together.

    The séance starts off well with introductions being made and the rules set out. Each one of them has a candle and so Seylan starts the séance, although she must admit that even she’s never done one over Zoom before.

    All they need to do is relax and follow the number one rule – never disrespect the spirits. However, when one of them decides to play a prank, the spirits don’t take too kindly to her attitude and decide to take it out on the gang of friends.

    Host is a supernatural horror directed by Rob Savage which is very fitting for our time. Although with a film such as Unfriended, the video call horror movie seemed like a unique premise at the time. Little did we know how we’d all have to rely on video calls just to be able to communicate because other options were limited.

    Starting off the film, the dialogue between the cast feels very natural and it’s believable that they all could be friends. There are even some technical difficulties along the way that make the interaction all that much more realistic.

    Snippets of Host could have even been released online because the set up feels like watching a Zoom call that’s just been released online. Doing this could have even created a buzz like The Blair Witch Project. Although as the movie continues it starts to get more and more sensational as the spirits take over. Host is still an effective horror movie though and worth a watch if you enjoy watching movies alone on your computer and hoping for jump scares.

  • Antidote: Review

    Antidote: Review

    Sharyn Berkley (Ashlynn Yennie) lives with her daughter and her husband in the bliss of a loving family. Then one day she experiences stomach pains and is rushed to hospital. The doctor tells her that she has appendicitis and should have surgery immediately.

    However, when Sharyn wakes up, she finds herself cuffed to a bed in a part of the hospital that feels isolated and unfamiliar. While there she meets a couple of the patients, Cassandra (Augie Duke) and Rizzo (Christopher Vasilopoulos) and starts to realise that this section of the hospital, or wherever she is, is experimenting on its patients.

    The person in charge, Dr. Aaron Hellenbach (Louis Mandylor), is the only person that seems to know what’s going on, but Sharyn is becoming desperate and needs to find a way out before it’s too late.

    Antidote is a psychological horror directed by Peter Daskaloff and co-written by Matthew Toronto. It follows an all too familiar setting where a woman finds herself captured with no way to escape and director Daskaloff creates a suitably sinister setting with a good cast and a menacing villain. However, Antidote is a little more than the usual torture porn setting as it goes into Sharyn’s past and fleshes out her life as she looks back at the things she’s done and the regrets she has.

    Fleshing out the protagonist as well as the people she meets, Daskaloff’s story sets it apart from other horror movies as it does just enough to distract its audience when it counts. So, while the audience are taken in by Sharyn’s flashbacks to her past, there’s little time to be thinking about what’s really going on.

    All the cast do a great job, in particular Ashlynn Yennie who manages to convey many aspects of Sharyn’s life convincingly, showing a good range. There are a few twists along the way and unless you’re really paying attention then you’ll be kicking yourself that you didn’t get it before they’re revealed. Antidote is a healthy dose of horror that makes you think as well as makes you care about its characters.